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Posts Tagged ‘Pecan’

Praline Cheesecake

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , , , , on February 22, 2014| 15 Comments »

I wanted to make something different for one of our Christmas dinners and I knew that several people there were cheesecake fans.  This was my first cheesecake so off to the internet I went in search for a recipe to try and found this one on Pinterest (of course) from Kraft. 

It ended up being a simple recipe and oh, so tasty.  C’s cousin’s little boy who is one and a half years old kept sneaking a bite while the adults were playing a game.  Needless to say, there wasn’t much left at the end of the night and that’s exactly how I like it.

Praline Cheesecake

66 Nilla wafers, divided

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, divided

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

3 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

3 eggs

25 Kraft caramels

3 tbsp. milk

1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

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Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Completely crush 50 of the Nilla wafers.  Mix the crushed cookies with 1/4 cup sugar and butter.  Press onto the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan.  Stand the remaining wafers around the edge of the pan, pressing gently into the crust.

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Beat the cream cheese and remaining sugar with an electric mixer until smooth.  Add the sour cream and vanilla.  Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating on low speed after each until just blended.  Pour the batter over the crust.

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Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the center is almost set.(I baked mine for 55 because my oven cooks a little slow and I was scared the center wasn’t done.)  Run a small knife around the rim of the pan to loosen the cake.  Cool before removing the outer ring of the pan.  Refrigerate for 4 hours.

When you are ready to serve the cake, microwave the caramels and milk on high for 1 minute or until caramels are completely melted.  It took about 1 1/2 minutes for mine.  Cool slightly then pour over the cheesecake and sprinkle with the toasted pecans.

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Praline Cheesecake

This finishes up my Sweet Treat month here at Picture Perfect Cooking, but I am sure there will be plenty more to come in the future.

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Apple Cinnamon Swirl Bundt Cake-Dessert Challenge

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , , , , on September 12, 2013| 64 Comments »

I used to watch a LOT of shows on the Food Network, but there are only a few I really keep up with now.  Trisha’s Southern Kitchen is one of them and when Ms. Yearwood made this cake on her show, I thought it looked scrumptious.  Bundt cakes are so good and usually get even better a couple of days after they are made.

When I saw that September’s spotlight ingredients at Lady Behind The Curtain’s Dessert Challenge were apples and cinnamon, this recipe came to mind.  Never mind that there weren’t actually apples in the original.  They could just be added to the batter, couldn’t they?  Well, yes they can and the apples really add a lot of flavor and moisture.  This is a perfect recipe for fresh apples that are coming in season any day now.  I may have to make this again!

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For the cake:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 Gala apple, peeled & diced

For the swirl:

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

For the glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 tbsp. milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a Bundt pan with baking spray.  With an electric mixer, cream the butter and granulated sugar together until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. 

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add the flour to the butter mixture in thirds alternating with the sour cream.  You will start and end with the flour mixture.  Mix in the diced apples and set aside to prepare the swirl.

In a separate bowl, combine all of the swirl ingredients.  Now layer the batter and swirl in the Bundt pan, again beginning and ending with the batter. You should have 3 layers of batter and 2 layers of swirl.

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Bake for an hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn out on to your cake plate to cool completely.

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When the cake has cooled, combine the glaze ingredients and drizzle over the cooled cake.  You could also serve the glaze on the side and pour some over each slice. 

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IMG_4750Please join me and other wonderful bloggers for apple/cinnamon day at Lady Behind The Curtain’s Dessert Challenge.


Lady Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge

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Apple Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , on November 19, 2011| 14 Comments »

A little while ago, I paid a visit to Jackson’s Orchard and purchased a peck of Jonathan apples so I had to find new apple recipes to try.  This recipe was published in Southern Living a few months ago and I knew it would be a perfect test for fresh apples.  This cake turned out great!  The apples and cream cheese swirl kept the cake moist for days and the caramel topping was so good.

In fact, this is one of those cakes that is better a day or two after it is baked.  It just gets moister and more flavorful.  Do you have a fall potluck or party to go to?  Take this and everyone will be in apple heaven!

Note: I am not including quite as many photos as usual since this recipe is quite long already.  All of the methods used are pretty basic.

For the Cream Cheese Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the Apple Cake Batter:

1 cup finely chopped pecans, lightly toasted

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup canola oil

3/4 cup applesauce

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 cups peeled and finely chopped apples (The original recipe called for Galas, but I used Jonathans.)

For the Praline Frosting:

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

3 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup powdered sugar

Prepare the Filling:

Beat the cream cheese, butter, and granulated sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended and smooth.  Add the egg, flour and vanilla.  Beat just until blended.

Prepare the Batter:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 14-cup Bundt pan with non-stick spray and cover with flour. (Or do like I do and use Baker’s Joy.)  Stir together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, nutmeg and allspice.  Then add the eggs, oil, applesauce and vanilla; stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened.  Stir in the apples and pecans.

Spoon 2/3 of the apple batter into the prepared pan.  Spoon the cream cheese filling over the batter, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge of the pan.  Swirl the filling through the apple batter using a knife.  Spoon the remaining batter over the filling.

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center come out clean.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn out on a cooling rack and let the cake cool down completely.

Prepare the Frosting:

Bring the brown sugar, butter, and milk to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly.  Boil for 1 minute while still whisking constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Gradually whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth; stir gently for 3-5 minutes or until the frosting begins to cool and thickens slightly.  Pour immediately over the cooled cake.

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Join me over at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday to see some yummy treats!

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Dairy Free Pralines & Cream Ice Cream

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , on October 1, 2011| 6 Comments »

This recipe was made specially for my dad.  This is his favorite all-time ice cream from a certain chain store and he asked me to try to duplicate it at home.  I think it turned out to be a huge success!  The praline pecans are wonderful by themselves and I had to mentally smack my hand to keep from eating too many.  The recipe for them (which is a Paula Deen recipe) makes enough for two batches of ice cream.

I started with my basic dairy-free vanilla ice cream recipe and added in the praline pecans while it was processing.  After that, it is so easy to layer the ice cream with caramel ice cream topping to make the final product.  Yes, it would probably be even better with homemade caramel sauce, but I went the easier route and it was still yummy.

For the praline pecans:

2 cups whole pecans

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

4 tablespoons heavy cream

For the dairy free vanilla ice cream:

1 14oz. can full-fat coconut milk

1 1/4 cups soymilk or other nondairy milk

1/2 cup granulated sugar (or agave syrup-I just bought some and will try this, too.  The agave syrup lowers the glycemic index which makes it better for diabetics.)

2 tbsp. real vanilla extract

1 jar of caramel ice cream topping

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For the praline pecans:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl combine pecans, brown sugar and heavy cream. Spread into a square baking pan, sprayed with cooking spray. Bake in the preheated oven for about 18 minutes, or until coating is dry, and slightly crystallized, stirring every 5-6 minutes. Remove from oven to cool and stir once more.

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For the ice cream:

Place all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk until well combined.  Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. 

Turn on the ice cream maker and pour the vanilla base into it.  Process for 20 minutes and add the praline pecans in the last 5 minutes. In a lidded freezer safe container, spread a layer of the ice cream.  Next, pour a thin layer of the caramel topping over the ice cream and repeat, starting and ending with the ice cream.  Freeze until hard, 2-3 hours.  Enjoy!!!

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Please join over at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday to see this and other delicious recipes.

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Caramel Pecan Brownies

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , on August 6, 2011| 23 Comments »

I love chocolate as many of you who read this blog should be able to tell, but I also love caramel and pecans, too.  Well, guess what?  This brownie recipe combines all of those into one ooey-gooey piece of heaven.  I found this in the Fall 2010 edition of Kraft Food and Family magazine, but it got pushed back in my recipe drawer and I had not made it. 

Let me tell you, it was worth the wait!  If you have a chocolate lover in your household, please make these for them.  You will be their new favorite person!

I did make a couple of little changes to the original, one because I had to and one because I wanted to.  I was almost out of white sugar (oops), so I had to substitute light brown sugar for most of the white.  I don’t think it made any difference at all.  I also chopped my pecans instead of using the whole pecan halves.  I think you get more crunch and flavor that way.  I am listing the original recipe below.

4 squares unsweetened baking chocolate

3/4 cup butter

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup all purpose flour

1 pkg. (14 oz.) caramels

1/3 cup whipping cream

2 cups pecans, divided

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 13×9” baking pan with aluminum foil and allow the ends of the foil to hang over the pan.  Spray the foil with non-stick spray.  Microwave the chocolate and butter on high for 2 minutes or until butter is melted.  Stir until chocolate is completely melted.

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Add sugar and eggs.  Mix well.  Stir in flour until well blended.  Spread half of the batter in the pan and bake for 25 minutes.

About 20 minutes into the baking process, microwave the caramels and whipping cream on high for 2 minutes or until caramels begin to melt.  Stir until completely melted.  (I had to put mine back in the microwave for about another minute to get the caramels melted.)  Stir in 1 cup of nuts.

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Spread the caramel mixture over the brownie layer and cover with the remaining brownie batter.  Some caramel will show through.  Sprinkle with remaining nuts and bake for 30 more minutes.  Let cool completely and cut into small pieces.  A little bit of this brownie goes a long way!

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Please join me over at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for this recipe and many yummy others!  She even spotlighted little old me for my BBQ ribs last week.  Thanks, Miz Helen!

Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Scharffen Berger.

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Perfect Pecan Pie

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , on November 23, 2010| 12 Comments »

I have been a search for the perfect pecan pie recipe.  This may sound silly, but I remember when I was little, the local chicken restaurant would have individual pecan pie slices for sale in small plastic containers.  I thought these were just great at the time, and I have been a big pecan pie fan ever since.  I now know that just about anything sold in individual plastic containers like that is not as good as homemade so I have been looking for the right recipe. 

I found what I think is the best pie over at Southern Plate.  The only change I made was to the cooking time and that is because my oven cooks a little slow.  I had to extend the time by about 10 minutes, which I do with a lot of recipes.

3 eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup white corn syrup

3/4 stick butter, melted

1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

1 unbaked deep dish pie shell

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In a medium bowl, beat eggs.  Blend in the sugar.

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Stir in the remaining ingredients, mixing well.  Pour into the pie shell and place in a COLD oven.  Turn oven to 300 degrees and bake for 60-70 minutes.  Enjoy!

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“Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Kerrygold.”

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